Fantasy Blacksmith
- March 8, 2019
- Heaven Brotherhood
- 9h median play time
Get on Steam"Fantasy Blacksmith" is a simulation game where players run their own fantasy blacksmith shop. Craft and upgrade weapons, meet unique customers, and manage resources to grow your business. Immerse yourself in a rich fantasy world filled with magic, mystery, and epic adventures.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Steam Deck
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox
Reviews
- The game has a unique concept of being a blacksmith, allowing players to forge and customize swords.
- The crafting mechanics are in-depth, providing a satisfying experience when creating weapons.
- The game has potential for future updates and improvements, with a dedicated developer team.
- The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay and cause frustration.
- The tutorial is poorly designed, making it difficult for players to understand the mechanics.
- The controls are clunky and unintuitive, leading to a frustrating experience when trying to interact with objects.
- stability92 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous players reporting it as a "buggy mess" filled with glitches that significantly hinder gameplay. While some users note improvements following major patches, many still find the controls clunky and the overall experience frustrating due to persistent bugs and unfinished mechanics. Despite its potential and enjoyable aspects, the game's instability remains a major barrier to a satisfying experience.
“I'll put it bluntly; the game's a buggy mess, even when it's working properly.”
“The fact the game is ridiculously buggy, poorly optimized, and then the creators had the audacity to release a DLC pack for a game that should, for all intents and purposes, still barely be an early access product is absolutely insulting.”
“I have to warn you that this game is so buggy that it is nigh unplayable.”
- gameplay77 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players highlighting significant issues such as a confusing tutorial, poor UI, and numerous bugs that detract from the overall experience. While some mechanics, like forging, show potential and can be engaging, the repetitive nature of tasks and lack of polish lead to frustration and monotony. Overall, the game offers a compelling concept but suffers from execution flaws that hinder enjoyment.
“Simulator lovers will most likely appreciate this game - it will really tighten you in its gameplay.”
“The game itself is a lot of fun with engaging mechanics and various ways of crafting swords, from choosing drafts to applying Damascus steel and different types of magic.”
“Intuitive controls, great gameplay, runs on even the least capable machines.”
“The gameplay is fine at first, until you realize it's a constant cycle of waiting.”
“This game is really unpolished, the gameplay is a nightmare and is just frustrating to play.”
“While the general idea of the game is very good, its execution is lacking, the game itself is highly buggy, the swords you craft look like cylinders and the gameplay forces you to wait around a lot of the time doing nothing, making it an overall tiring and unfun experience.”
- graphics57 mentions
- 42 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the pleasant aesthetics and decent quality, while others criticize the visuals as cheap or poorly integrated, particularly the character designs. Many users note performance issues, such as lag at higher settings, and mention that the graphics, while not groundbreaking, are generally easy on the eyes. Overall, the game shows potential for improvement, but current graphical elements and art styles may not appeal to everyone.
“Fun game with great graphics.”
“I'm just in love with the graphics, they are just great.”
“High-quality graphics, cool gameplay.”
“The graphics are poor, the assets are cheap (likely even free), and the gameplay is too slow and boring to be at all rewarding or fun.”
“Bad lighting, ugly graphics, poor tutorializing, sloppy controls, and worst of all everything is just incredibly slow and awkward to do.”
“It's full of bugs, glitches, the graphic compartment is barely acceptable and the price is too high for the current amount of content!”
- grinding35 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and repetitive, with many players expressing frustration over the cumbersome controls and poorly designed mini-games. While some find satisfaction in the crafting process, the overall experience is marred by excessive back-and-forth tasks and unbalanced progression, leading to a sense of monotony. Improvements in the grinding mechanics and a more engaging system are highly desired by the community.
“The gameplay was very tedious and annoying with the constant back and forth of putting the sword part into the fire and putting it on the anvil over and over again.”
“Every swing of your pickaxe or hammer feels like you're trying to heft a piece of furniture, and constantly going back and forth between your forge and anvil is an enormously tedious process for something so fundamental to the process.”
“Progression is particularly grindy, and interactions are either gimmicky mini-games, unsatisfying repetition, or tedious recipe-crafting.”
- music30 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the atmospheric and chill qualities, while others find it repetitive and annoying, often opting to turn it off or replace it with their own audio. Many users note that the soundtrack feels limited and lacks variety, contributing to a sense of incompleteness in the overall experience. Additionally, there are complaints about the inability to adjust or disable the music, which detracts from the enjoyment for some players.
“Moreover, the soundtrack, as for me, was chosen really correctly and certainly for such a game.”
“An impressive atmosphere and idea, to be in the role of someone else, to get to know a new profession better, while with a pleasant soundtrack; I would like to have even more tasks and new types of swords.”
“The graphics are comfortable with nice and realistic color schemes, the sounds sound authentic with nice metal on metal clanking and calm medieval style background music.”
“Can't turn down or off the music.”
“Also the soundtrack is terrible and I had to listen to something else, but this is the closest thing to a 'blacksmith simulator' that you're going to find.”
“Yes, the music is kind of droning and obnoxious (personally I just turn it off and put on some lofi in a web browser).”
- atmosphere13 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 23 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive and fitting design, effectively capturing the essence of a blacksmith's world with well-crafted textures and a compelling soundtrack. Players appreciate the relaxing yet dark ambiance, which enhances the overall experience despite the lack of a traditional plot. Many find the atmosphere engaging and conducive to a chill gaming experience, making it a standout feature of the game.
“Game has an interesting atmosphere which cannot be explained in words.”
“An excellent and atmospheric game, a real blacksmith simulator.”
“Coupled with a relaxing atmosphere, this game has the promise to be your next favourite chill-out game.”
“The setting and the soundtrack make the atmosphere quite dark.”
“Here you will feel the whole atmosphere of blacksmiths and castles of the past centuries!”
“However, the atmosphere hooked me right from the beginning and I was eager to play.”
- story8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game's story is minimal, with players primarily focused on becoming the best blacksmith rather than engaging in a narrative. While some find the lack of guidance and objectives liberating, others criticize the absence of a coherent plot and meaningful quests, leading to a disjointed experience. Overall, the game offers little in terms of storytelling, relying instead on gameplay mechanics.
“The plot is interesting, so I did not have the opportunity to get bored.”
“...in regards to the front door quests you receive from the manga-style townspeople.”
“'Story' wise, your goal is to become the best blacksmith in all the land; sadly, you start out at such a deficit and your competition grows at such a rate that if you aren't constantly bending over for the 'once every 10 real-life minutes' customers, you're kind of screwed.”
“If you like games with little active guidance, virtually no story, and zero reason to complete, this is the game for you.”
“There is no real story, but that doesn't matter.”
“No story, barely any kind of tutorial, and when the customer arrives, a dialogue box appears with an anime side image which feels completely alien to the rest of the game.”
- humor7 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is generally well-received, with players finding it unexpectedly entertaining, particularly through amusing character interactions and quirky mechanics. While some initially doubted the comedic potential of a mining simulator, many were pleasantly surprised by its humor and engaging gameplay, describing it as both funny and enjoyable. Overall, the game successfully blends humor with its core mechanics, making it a delightful experience for players.
“The customers at the door are funny.”
“This is a very funny simulator that can steal all your free time (as happened to me).”
“Its really chilling game and at the same time really funny and enjoyable game.”
- monetization4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game is widely criticized as a cash grab, with users feeling that it primarily serves to promote other titles from the developers rather than offering genuine value. Many reviewers express disappointment, suggesting that the game feels like an abandoned project focused on profit rather than quality.
“It is mostly a cash grab for their other games.”
“Feels like a cash grab as they go work on another abandonware game.”
“They are cash grabbing this idea.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with users reporting significant bugs, performance issues, and a general lack of polish, leading many to feel that it is still in an early access state despite the release of a DLC. Additionally, the use of the Unity engine has contributed to these performance problems, leaving players disappointed with the overall experience.
“The fact the game is ridiculously buggy, poorly optimized, and then the creators had the audacity to release a DLC pack for a game that should, for all intents and purposes, still barely be considered an early access product is absolutely insulting, and they should in no way get your money.”
“Redownloaded this game to see if it had improved since 18 months previously when I uninstalled it due to its bugs, lack of optimization, and general lack of content.”
“The single bad thing I can say about this game is its simple graphics and some performance issues due to the engine being Unity.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users express frustration with the game's emotional impact, citing a poor tutorial that leaves players feeling confused and inadequate. Additionally, technical issues, such as bugs affecting item availability, contribute to a sense of disappointment and frustration, detracting from the overall experience.
